Up to $9 billion in cloud contracts may be awarded by the Pentagon in December.

• The Pentagon expects to award contracts around eight months later than expected.
• Instead of relying on a single public cloud, it is now recommended to utilize multiple public clouds.

The Defense Department announced on Tuesday that it plans to award up to $9 billion in cloud infrastructure contracts in December, which is eight months later than initially anticipated.

The JWCC initiative is a new direction for the U.S. military, which involves utilizing multiple cloud providers instead of a single one, as opposed to the original plan with the JEDI contract, which was ultimately canceled after being awarded to Amazon.

John Sherman, the Pentagon's chief information officer, stated on a call with reporters that the schedule for the JWCC was too ambitious and they are now aiming to wrap up in the fall and award in December. Initially, the goal was to award contracts as soon as April 2022, but this has been revised.

In November, the Pentagon issued solicitations to Amazon, Microsoft, and IBM, according to Sherman.

The Pentagon anticipates that the contracts will have a three-year initial term and two-year extension periods. Afterward, Sherman stated that the Pentagon will initiate a comprehensive and transparent competition for a future multicloud procurement.

Over 10 years, the JEDI contract would have been worth as much as $10 billion, while JWCC would have spanned five years and had a larger dollar amount.

The work will be accessible to all three security classifications and will operate both within and outside the U.S., Sherman stated. It is anticipated that the Pentagon will have access to the unclassified network upon the award of contracts. Secret networks will become operational 60 days after the contract is awarded, while top-secret and tactical edge networks will come online no later than 180 days after the picks are made.

The JEDI contract, which was awarded to Amazon under former President Trump, marked a break from technology services delivery. Now, under Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, the JADC2 strategy will utilize artificial intelligence.

The Pentagon has requested new proposals from companies following the cancellation of Microsoft's "Jedi" contract.